Hokey Pokey

Jumping in and out of the presidential race.  All the cool kids are doing it.  I can't even keep it all straight.

Officially announced:
Herman Cain -- businessman, untainted by DC
Pawlenty -- I forget what he looks like moments after looking away from him
Newt -- Is he officially running or just considering it?  Either way, "President Newt" is never gonna happen.
Huckabee -- out
Trump -- out, but maybe considering joining later
Bachman -- likely to announce soon
Palin -- likely to run, hasn't announced
Ron Paul -- in, never gonna get it.
Gary Johnson -- in, never gonna get it
Daniels -- nope
Christie -- emphatically denies interest in running
Ryan -- wants to focus on $ for now

Who did I miss?  Romney, has he announced anything?  I don't know why, but I try not to pay attention to him.  Ditto Santorum.  That probably says something about me, but I'm not sure what that is.

I hope the shmoes fully understand that this isn't about their dream candidate.  This is about the Republican candidate that the independents will most respond to.  And who is hardest to rip apart in the press.  And who has charisma that can withstand Obama's sparkle. The other way to go is to give up on winning POTUS, focus on winning both the House and Senate, and pick a presidential candidate like Palin, whose major priority would be to expose that the emperor is nekkid.


ADDED:  As the possibilities dwindle, people are now speculating about Paul Ryan.  Krauthammer says it's his time.  That phrase -- IT'S HIS TIME! -- has gotten me all dreamy, moony, political fantasying.

My favorite prof in undergrad told a story about when Bobby Kennedy was shot.  She got on her bike, started pedaling furiously, and swore she'd never fall in love with another politician.  I've never really understood what that's like.  It's not that she had a crush on a celebrity or a politician.  She was in love with him the way Dagney loves John Galt in Atlas Shrugged.  The whole package.  The mind.  She truly believed that he could change the world.  There's some sort of Cinderella fantasy layered in there, too....  The gallant knight who swoops in and saves us from the current American mess.  I could see myself falling for Paul Ryan in that way.  I suppose that's how a lot of people feel about Obama.  So strange.

I read Atlas Shrugged a few weeks ago.  The parallels were daunting.  It made me yearn for John Galt.  It's not even that I want a certain party to win or lose in 2012.  I want someone who can somehow make people understand that the current way leads to failure.  Like Galt's speech on the radio.  This country ain't right.  The system is broken.

I wonder if anyone, regardless of party, would be able to steer the ship right now.  Both sides of the tax argument (cuts vs hikes) need time to grow and develop for us to see where they could actually go.  Like, more than eight years.  Ahem.  Given the mess of the Middle East and the Mess of our ME obligations & oil needs, I don't see how we could fix that in eight years, either.

Maybe we have to hit rock bottom before we are able to fix the mess.  Gawd, that's depressing.

New York Magazine exposes Fox News

The Elephant in the Green Room's seconday-source quotes form the shaky skeleton of a narrative of Fox news that could easily describe the newsworthiness of the actual article itself.  Oft-quoted "GOPer who knows Ailes well" ties together paragraphs full of juicy story lacking factual meat.  

This article actually enforces my previously wavering belief that people are scared of the GOP and scared of Fox News.  I really can't figure out the point of the article at all.  I mean, why write it?  Why publish it?  Why now?  It talks about the 2012 election and media puppetry (ironically omitting the media's crush on Obama), so perhaps that's it.  Does anyone doubt that Fox will go easier on Republicans (compared to their coverage on other networks)?  If a pro-Candidate X source can be discredited, that's good for Obama.  Yay, New York Magazine!


For the Left, Fox is the monster in the closet -- you know it's not there, but you sleep with a nite lite anyways.  People create the argument "Fox lies therefore it sucks" without providing substantial evidence of the primary and foundational claim.  The best they can get are usually clips taken out of context or mistakes that are clarified later on the program.  


New York Mag's spin on an old song is to expose the man behind the curtain at Fox news.  Hannity is jealous of Beck's ratings!  Therefore... uh, I dunno.  They don't really get that far.  Also, for the naive reader who does not have knowledge of how TV network politics work, a comparison to another network would have been nice; however, I suspect that Fox is not that different from other networks.  Comparing it would have devalued the underlying message (that Fox is Bad).


I swear, the more news I digest (and I do get my news from a myriad of sources), the more I hate Fox-haters.  Fox is what it is.  That's more than most news sources can say.  "Fair and Balanced"?  I dunno.  Compared to MSNBC, yes.  Compared to snoozefest CNN, probably not.  Then again, what's fair?  What's balanced?  Anyways, if it's such a horrible network, if Fox really does lie, then why not just debunk all of its stories?  Media Matters has tried to do that, but their 90 members haven't been able to find enough ammo to put Fox out of business (or even put a dent in Fox's ratings).


Conspiracy theorist time.  (I'm the theorist, not Beck.)

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I think this pic from the NY mag article looks photoshopped (above).  Compare it to his TIME cover photo (below).  The photoshopped pic is in black and white, which makes small alterations easier.  The shading on most of his face looks unnatural.  The dark circles under his eyes make him look tense and angry.  Where did the wrinkles around his eyes and lower forehead go?  His cheeks look bloated, but they've drawn in shading to create a pointed chin.  (All villains have pointy chins, don'tcha know.)  The scowl is the worst.  As I stare at the scowl in that picture, it certainly appears edited, if not entirely photoshopped on to replace his real mouth.

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d-r-a-c-o-n-i-a-n

If you use that term now, what are you gonna say when shit really hits the fan?

draconian: rigorous; unusually severe or cruel.

• Reid has said the Ryan budget is a draconian plan...
• They should recognize that if they pass this draconian voter ID bill, AB7/SB6...
• rightwing legislation and draconian budget cuts...

Get a new word!

Joanna, Fire

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13 yr old jailed in psych ward while mom, state play tug-of-war

The Detroit News reports (link mine):

State authorities have accused the mother of medical neglect for halting the girl's treatment with the controversial anti-psychotic drug Risperdal, which is used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. A trial over the neglect allegations and custody of the child is set to being in June before Pierce. 

Risperdal is a hardcore psych drug.  It has not been in existence for long enough to know how it effects a child's developing brain.  I'm surprised that it's even prescribed to children, not to mention forcible prescription.

What is guaranteed to effect a child's developing identity and sense of self:?  Locking 'em up in a psych ward.  If the state gave a shit about the girl's mental well-being, they'd let her stay at home while this is being sorted out.  What's the worse thing the mother can do?  Not give the child something that wasn't even available for her two years ago?

note: Fortunately, the girl has been released and is now at home.